Don't miss Tuesday and Wednesday 5 and 6 January 2021 at 9pm on BBC2:  Cheetah Family and Me with Gordon Buchanan 

It's back!  There's a repeat of Snow Cats and Me on BBC2 at 8pm on Friday 13 November 2020!

Here's my post from the previous showing:

I'm watching a lynx catching the first rays of sun on her fur ever, in Russia.  This lynx is one of two who have been rescued from a chap who kept two lynx to breed from and this amazing rescuer has got the owner to hand them over.

The rescuer is big cat expert Dr Victor Lukarevsky who is trying for the first time ever to rescue lynx and rehabilitat them so that they can go back into the wild. This is in complete contrast to their previous life when they were living in cages in a garage.

Lynx are wanted for the pet trade and fur trade in Russia. 

Anyway, do watch Gordon Buchanan's Snow Cats and Me.  There are 2 episodes and you can find out more about the programme here.

UPDATE:

Do I tell you or not, if you haven't seen the programme?  Well, I'm bursting so I have to!   The two lynx Dasher and Briansk (not sure if I've spelt their names correctly) were released in the stunning Khakassia State Reserve, Siberia, deep in the Siberian wilderness, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one to have tears falling down my face at the sight of Briansk gingerly stepping into unknown territories and taking uncertain looks around him before heading off away from his rescuers.  The park is patrolled by rangers and it's a very remote area indeed - you don't see any signs of people at all. 

The footage of the lynx kittens was gorgeous, with their beautiful faces and inquisitive natures.   If you haven't seen the programme, please take a look! 

The 8^th to 14^th November 2020 is Orangutan Caring Week.

That gives me a great reason to tell you about a very special appeal which is being run by the Orangutan Foundation and the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme.

The Orangutan Foundation celebrated their 30^th Anniversary in October 2020 so it would be wonderful to see this appeal completed in the same year!

They are looking to raise £300,000 for conservation work that’s really vital.

In doing so, they want to save three species of orangutan:  The Bornean, Sumatran and  Tapanuli orangutans.  They are all critically endangered and are all suffering from a severe loss of tropical forest habitat.   As a result, their population numbers have plummeted by an incredible 90%. 

What will the £300,000 be used for?

In Borneo, it will be used for the following (and I’m kind of quoting):

• Protecting habitat in the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve and the Tanjung Puting National Park
• Protection the operation of 8 guard posts in the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve and two in the Tanjung Puting National Park
• Monitoring the health and behaviour of orangutans who have been released
• Supporting the veterinary and monitoring operations at 5 release camps
• Restoring degraded lands in the reserve
• Supporting the reforestation programme to increase the extent of habitat that’s suitable for the orangutans
• Conserving orangutans in landscapes outside conservation areas
• Collaborating with stakeholders across 2.5 million acres of prime forest habitat
  
  

In Sumatra,

The Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme needs funds urgently to:

• Manage peatlands in the Leuser Ecosytem
• Protect carbon-rich peatlands with the highest orangutan densities
• Protect the Tapanuli orangutans in the Batang Toru Ecosystem
• Increase protected status of their habitat and connecting fragmented forests 
• Build up newly established wild populations in Jantho and Bukit Tigapuluh
• Support SOCP’s reintroduction of rehabilitated ex-captive orangutans.
• Transfer ‘unreleasable’ orangutans to the new Orangutan Haven
• Care for disabled or sick orangutans that cannot be released back to the wild.

So you can see that the £300,000 will be very well spent and really help make a difference to orangutans (and a lot of other species living in the area who also call the forests home).

Both organisations have done a great deal of work in the time they have been looking after orangutans and now they need to do more to help them.  The Tapanuli species of orangutan was only found in 2017.

If we could get 60,000 people to donate £5 or its equivalent, that would hit the target!

Visit the Orangutan Foundation’s website to find out more and donate.

I’m very excited by news from Spectacled Bear Conservation who work in Peru.

A camera trap has confirmed bear presence in an area known as Pan de Azucar, which means Sugar Loaf in English.

Spectacled Bear Conservation has monitored spectacled bears in the dry forest area of northern Peru for 12 years.  They were amazed to see the photo of a bear, because the area is very dry indeed.   The camera was on an arid mountain ridge where water sources are limited and it had been thought that it was too dry for animals to exist there.

Image ©Spectacled Bear Conservation

After finding the photo, five more camera traps were put up.   Sapote and overo trees were discovered – they are key food sources – and bear scat was also found, which suggests that more than one bear had used the area.

This shows the mountain to be a likely place for bears to find food fruits in the summer and possibly even the winter season. 

The more signs of bears being in the area the better – it means Spectacled Bear Conservation have more reason to protect the land.

What’s more, finding bears in the Sugar Loaf gives the chance to create one big habitat range for them.  This includes two national protected areas, Bosque de Pomac and the Laquipampa Wildlife Refuge.

This find comes with better news:  the national park authorities are keen on the idea of linking the park with habitat outside protected areas.   Bears need big areas to roam.  They won’t stop at the park boundary.   And the parks are giving Spectacled Bear Conservation camera traps to put up so that it can monitor bears in Pan de Azucar.

Spectacled Bear Conservation is also working with the Peruvian national forestry authority, SERFOR.   The aim is to designate the area as “Habitat Critico” so that key habitats are protected for endangered species – including the spectacled bear!

And to think – it all started with a photo!

It just shows how important camera traps and long term monitoring are in protecting a species. 

Visit Spectacled Bear Conservation’s website

Donate to Spectacled Bear Conservation

There are some amazing people doing great things for nature and conservation.  

On the island of Siquijor in the central Philippines, Women have got together to protect marine sanctuaries from poachers and illegal fishers, even though they only have paddles and kayaks.   They are prepared to risk their lives to protect there are.

The waters are full of rich coral reefs and fish diversity – but they are being impacted by both illegal fishing which has impacted on the coral reefs and reduced fish diversity and its abundance, and climate change.

This video tells the story of the women.  One woman has been shot at – but she is determined and her efforts resulted in the arrest of the person shooting at her.

Watch and be inspired…

The video was supported with a grant from the Earth Journalism Network.

Knowing regular funds are coming in makes a huge difference to wildlife charities.  It can help in all sorts of ways.

It can enable the charity to respond to situations demanding urgent action – they don’t have to wait until they have raised the money.  In the case of wildlife conservation, this could enable a charity to rescue an animal (or a group of them) or put a deposit on a piece of land to save it from loggers, or restore it.  It can also help them plan for the future whilst carrying out their current work.

The Sumatran Orangutan Society (SOS) are looking for Orangutan Guardians. 

What does the Sumatran Orangutan Society do?

The society supports high impact frontline projects and also deliver hard-hitting campaigns to ensure a good future for Sumatra’s orangutans, forests and people.  They rescue orangutans, they save forests and so protect their homes, and they work with local communities so that they understand why the forests are important and embrace them in the role of protecting them.

Orangutan Guardians are critical because they help SOS do all these things mentioned above.

And if you sign up for a monthly donation of £10 or more during October 2020 you will be entered in a draw.  The lucky winner will win a limited edition Lush orangutan soap.  10 winners will be drawn at random and will receive their soap shortly after that.

This could be a great way to help save orangutans who currently need all the help they can get.

• £10 a month could support SOS’s longer-term goals of training local people to become guardians of the forest
• £20 a month could support SOS’s campaigns to tackle the root causes of deforestation.

Swing over to SOS and donate for Orangutans!

You could also treat a loved one to something from SOS’s online and rainforest friendly shop